Caroline and the High Waves
by Eliza-81
Summary: Caroline's new hobby brings her a lot more than just joy....


Features part of the song 'Paid my Dues' by Anastacia. I'm of course not taking credit for this song.  
  
"Caroline? Caroline!" Richard called upstairs as he entered the loft, ready for a new workday. There was no reply, so he hung his coat on the coat rack and made his way over to the partner desk. As he took his seat at his side of the desk, he noticed a yellow memo on the stack of panels.  
  
Gone swimming, be back soon!  
  
Caroline  
  
He frowned. 'Swimming? Since when does Caroline go swimming?' As soon as the question entered his mind, he dismissed it. What did he care? Besides, it was a nice change to start the morning in peace and quiet without having to listen to her chatter, which was always much too chipper for this time of the day. He picked up his pencil and bent over his work but immediately changed his mind again. 'What am I doing?' he asked himself. 'This is my chance to start a little later and wake up first'. A cup of hot coffee would be a nice start, he thought as he went over to the kitchen to make some. He was just pouring water into the coffeemaker when Caroline entered.  
  
"Hey Richard! Good morning!" she smiled brightly. Her hair was wet and was combed back, small drops of water still glistening at the ends. She carried a red duffel bag with her that apparently held her swimming gear.  
  
Richard grumbled a reply and went back to his place at the desk. So much for starting the day in peace and quiet. Caroline tossed her bag against the wall under the coat rack and took her place at the desk. "Did you find my memo?" she asked.  
  
"Yes I did." he mumbled absently, pretending to work. He couldn't really concentrate though, 'cause the two sides in his head were arguing loudly. 'Ask her about it, not ask her about it'? Eventually he gave up. She was going to tell him anyway, so asking her would only save time. He put down his pencil and looked up at her. "So, what's with the swimming?"  
  
She grinned. "I knew you'd ask that. It's my new hobby Richard. I've decided to take up swimming to keep fit. You know how I hate to exercise.."  
  
"Yeah, so? I hate it too, you don't see me swimming do you?"  
  
"Well, maybe you should. It's not good for your health if you never get any exercise. And since I'm no good at group sports I decided I should find something I can do on my own!" she exclaimed happily.  
  
"Wonderful." he mumbled unenthusiastically, focusing on his work again.  
  
She ignored his tone and continued, "Hey, Richard maybe next time you should come!"  
  
He looked up. "Caroline, exactly how much water did you swallow this morning? I don't swim, or sport or...anything. You should know that."  
  
She sighed exasperatedly. "I know, but it would be good for you to try something new Richard."  
  
"No thank you." he replied, once more looking down at his work. "You can do what you want but I'm not going near a pool."  
  
She threw up her hands in surrender. "Fine, don't get fit then!"  
  
"Thank you." he said firmly, indicating that he didn't want to discuss it any further. For once she decided to drop the subject. There were many things she could talk Richard into, but apparently this wasn't one of them.  
  
******  
  
Over the next few weeks, Caroline went swimming three times a week before work. Richard didn't mind, it gave him a chance to come in late on those mornings because she didn't notice then anyway. Plus, there was another up- point about Caroline's new hobby. Whenever she came back from swimming, she looked so beautiful. There was not a spot of make-up on her face, which revealed her natural beauty. Her wet hair gave her an innocent, yet sexy appearance. Richard's heart skipped a few beats whenever she entered the loft after her morning exercise. Eventually he decided that it was time to reveal his feelings for her. He tried to think of a way to tell her, but at that moment Caroline came bounding down the stairs. She had her duffel bag over her right shoulder, her left hand was hiding something behind her back.  
  
"Richard.?" she asked innocently.  
  
Too innocently, because Richard immediately looked up, noting the tone in her voice. "What do you want?" he asked, eyeing her warily.  
  
She pouted her lips in fake disappointment. "Well, you seemed to approve of my new hobby more and more over the past few weeks, so I thought you might want to..." She removed her left hand from behind her back, revealing a pair of swim trunks. ".Come with me?"  
  
Richard's eyes widened and he stepped back. "No! Noooo way, Caroline!" he held up his hands "I am NOT going near a pool, I told you."  
  
"Please?" she pouted.  
  
He shook his head. "Sorry, no." he said, his tone softer now. "I don't swim."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I freckle." he answered simply, turning his back to her as a sign that the discussion was over.  
  
She sunk down in her chair. "Okay, how about you come with me but don't go into the water?"  
  
He turned around again. "How would I do that? It's a pool!"  
  
"Yeah, but you can just sit by the side and watch. You won't have to go into the water. Will you come?" She cocked her head and batted her eyelashes. It took a lot more of her whining and begging before Richard sighed deeply and walked over to the coat rack. He grabbed his coat and exited, waiting for her by the elevator. Caroline smiled to herself. She'd won again.  
  
******  
  
When they emerged from the changing rooms, Caroline had changed into a simple blue bathing suit that hooked in the back. Richard was still fully clothed in his black slacks and a black turtleneck. She giggled when she saw his outfit.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing. Sure you don't wanna come?" He didn't even answer, just gave her a simple 'what do you think?' look.  
  
"Okay, fine. I'll go by myself. The observation area is over there" She pointed to a few benches at the side of the pool.  
  
"Fine. See you later." He walked off to the observation area, obviously still pissed off with himself for giving into her again. Caroline walked off in the opposite direction, to the biggest pool.  
  
She halted in front of the pool and her eyes wandered around. It wasn't very busy. There were only about a dozen people in the pool she was about to get into. The pool was nicely decorated with palm trees and ferns to create a sub tropic atmosphere. Apparently, the heat had also been adjusted to this theme, because within a minute she was sweating. Richard must be really hot in that outfit, she thought as she slowly entered the pool. The water slowly cooled her ankles, her thighs moments later as she stepped deeper into the water.  
  
When she was about to let herself sink completely into the water, something caught her attention. She scanned the pool to find out what it was. Then she spotted him: a tall dark-haired man was staring at her from across the pool, his eyes wandering over her every curve. She averted her eyes and let herself sink into the water until it touched her chin. When she still felt his eyes on her, she smiled to herself. 'At least there's still men attracted to me' she thought, hoping Richard would notice and damn himself for not coming into the water with her. Where was he anyway? She looked over at the benches and soon found him, watching her. When he caught her looking, he waved and she waved back. The dark haired guy immediately followed her gaze, spotting Richard in the observation area. She dismissed the attention this guy was giving her. There was only room for one guy's attention in her life: Richard's. She had been in love with him for quite some time now and she was pretty sure he felt the same. The question was: how was she going to get certainty? He always hid his feelings from her, so she could never tell what was going on inside his head. She continued to swim, occasionally looking up to check if the strange guy was still looking at her. Every time she looked up, she caught his stare. She hoped he didn't think she was interested or something, just because she looked back. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression. To rule out that possibility, she decided to not look up anymore, for fear she'd accidentally look back. She focused on the radio that was playing in the background to keep her mind off the man who was watching her every move. But even though she didn't look, she could still feel his eyes burning on her. Even though she found it flattering, it was also making her a bit uncomfortable and she decided to take a break for a while. She rose from the water and made her way over to the observation area, still feeling his eyes following her every move.  
  
Richard got up from the bench when he noticed her approaching him. He took out a towel from the bag he was carrying with him.  
  
"Hello" he smiled, handing her the towel. "How's it going?"  
  
"Fine" she smiled up at him, pondering for a moment whether or not to tell him about the guy who was staring at her. She decided against it. No matter how much she wanted to make him jealous, this probably wasn't going to do the trick. He rarely got out of his shell and it would probably take a lot more for him to do so than just some guy looking at her.  
  
"You want something to eat?" he asked. Caroline nodded and Richard walked off to the swimmers-bar to get them a sandwich. As soon as he was gone, she quickly scanned the pool. The staring- guy was nowhere in sight. She sighed with relief. He'd probably seen her with Richard, thought she had a boyfriend, and had given up. The observation area was situated in a corner of the pool, surrounded by big glass windows that went all the way up to the ceiling. They gave a great view at the outside pool. A fairly big pool, surrounded by a large sunbathing area. During the summer, it would be very busy with children playing in the outside pool, fathers playing catch with their kids and lots of women trying to catch a tan. The outside pool was still closed and it was hidden under a big blue cover. Even though it was May already, it was still a bit too chilly for the outside pool to open. She didn't notice Richard's return until he sat down next to her again.  
  
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" he asked, handing her a sandwich.  
  
"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking how nice it will be to swim outdoors when it gets warmer again."  
  
"It sure will" he agreed.  
  
She looked at him. "So you'll come then?"  
  
He shook his head. "Nice try." he grinned and took a bite of his sandwich.  
  
After a while Caroline decided to get back into the water. She went back to the same pool and let herself slowly slide into the cool water again, noting that there were now even fewer people than earlier. She started swimming in the lanes that were clearly indicated on the bottom of the pool with red and yellow stripes. She swam to the end of the pool, then turned around and swam back, accurately keeping track of the amount of lanes she swam so she could impress Richard with it later on. The pool she was in now was a wave pool, so after some time a bell rang and the water slowly started to form waves, mothers with small children quickly fleeing out of the shallow end of the pool. Caroline decided to keep swimming in the lanes, thinking that the waves would be a nice exercise for her. And an exercise it was, swimming through the high waves was a major struggle. They kept throwing her back every time she'd managed to swim another two feet. She was glad when the waves got less and less until the surface of the water was completely smooth again. When she wanted to turn again at the end of the pool, she noticed the waves had tired her quite a bit and she decided to rest for a while. She swam over to the other side of the pool, near the back corner and clung to the ropes that were attached to the sides of the pool. The mothers with their children slowly returned to the pool now that the waves were gone. Some other swimmers left the pool, only to be replaced with new ones who apparently had been waiting for the waves to go too. Suddenly she noticed that the black-haired man was back again. He was at the same side of the pool, only a few feet away from her. She ignored the wave of panic that struck through her, telling herself he was just an ordinary guy taking a swim. Besides, it was still a free country, right? So who was she to decide that he couldn't take a rest as well? While she was rationalizing the situation, she didn't notice that the gap between them was getting smaller and smaller..  
  
At first she thought she didn't feel right. She blamed the cool water that had apparently numbed her limbs, making her imagine things. But soon she felt it again; his hand softly brushing her thigh, running his fingers over her body, first hesitantly, then more persistent. Her body froze under his touch, utter shock overwhelming her. Somewhere in her head a little voice started to scream its protest but outward she didn't do anything, she just stood there, cemented into place, unable to move. His hands kept wandering her body, touching her. It sent a cold shiver through her spine, which made her whole body start to shake. She didn't want to be touched by him, she didn't want to be here, she wanted to do something. She wanted to scream, kick, do anything at all but for some reason was unable to. It was as if her body and mind had been detached and her body remained in its place while her mind was protesting loudly. Her eyes desperately scanned the pool for Richard, but his place in the waiting area was empty. Mothers with their children were still soundly playing at the shallow end while other swimmers continued their exercise, taking no notice of the tiny red head girl and dark-haired man who were taking a rest at the back of the pool. A wave of relief rushed through her when his hands finally left her body. Even now the torture was over, she still found herself unable to move. She didn't have much time to think about it, because within a second his hands were back on her body, wanting to touch more of her. His hand slid over her abdomen, then slowly moved upward, his fingertips leaving a burning trail on her body. All of a sudden, something in her brain clicked and her limbs seemed to work again. She quickly swam away from him, to the other side of the pool, then swam past the side of the pool to get out. When she climbed out and looked back, he was gone.  
  
She shivered, but not from the cold. As quickly as possible, she made her way over to the changing rooms. On her way over there, she spotted Richard in the observation area again and she tiptoed over to him, careful not to slip.  
  
"Hello" he greeted, once more handing her the towel when he noticed her shiver. "Cold?"  
  
Caroline stepped back, clutching the towel to her chest with both hands, tightly wrapping it around her. "Where were you just now?" she asked firmly.  
  
Did she just step away from him or was it his imagination? For a moment it had seemed as if she was afraid of him. He immediately dismissed that thought. That was ridiculous. Although she didn't seem quite like herself, she had this bewildered look in her eyes. "What do you mean? I went to look at the outdoor pool for a sec, that is okay, isn't it?" he asked, his expression a mixture of confusion and concern.  
  
"Yeah, sure." she whispered, staring at the floor. "Look, can we just go home now?"  
  
"Of course." he replied. He took their bag and they walked off towards the changing rooms.  
  
******  
  
Caroline was extremely quiet during their way home. Richard didn't think too much of it, figuring she was probably tired from the swimming. When they got home, Caroline wanted to go upstairs for a shower. Richard wanted to go home but Caroline asked him to stay, assuring him she wouldn't be long. He agreed and sat down on the couch as Caroline went upstairs.  
  
Water ran down Caroline's face, intermixed with tears that kept flowing and flowing. She leaned against the wall, constantly asking herself the same question: why? Why did he do it? Why wasn't Richard or anyone else there to help? Why didn't she fight him? Why didn't she do anything? Why??? As new tears flooded, she reached for a large bottle of shower gel and frantically started rubbing it on her body, desperately trying to 'clean' it from his touch. When she got out of the shower, she could still feel his hands burning on her. She moved in front of the mirror to study her body, the touched places standing out like big red spots. Of course there was nothing there, but to Caroline it seemed like those places had been marked forever. She tried as much as possible not to touch any of the skin he touched when she was drying herself, for they were now doomed. She wished more than anything that she could temporarily detach those body parts, so she wouldn't have to think of what happened all the time.  
  
Richard glanced at his watch. She'd been upstairs an awful long time now. It was getting later and he was getting hungry. He got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen. He was going to make them some dinner. While he was cooking he came up with a great idea. Maybe after their dinner he could finally tell Caroline about his feelings for her. It would be the perfect occasion. Now that he'd decided this, he instantly became nervous. What if she didn't feel the same way? He might ruin their friendship forever. He pondered about that for a moment but eventually decided to take the risk. He was going to burst if he kept his feelings bottled up much longer. Maybe he should just think positively for once and rely on everything to turn out just fine. He smiled to himself at the thought of Caroline finally finding out about his feelings for her as he continued to cook them dinner.  
  
As Caroline descended the stairs, she plastered on a broad smile, determined to forget all about what happened in the pool. She tried to ignore her aching skin that still burnt continuously. She had hoped the burning feeling would go away but it only seemed to get worse. She quickly dismissed the feeling though when she got to the bottom of the stairs and found that Richard had made them a delicious dinner. She glanced over at him and smiled. He was so sweet! He noticed her and looked up.  
  
"There you are. I made us some dinner. I hope that's okay?"  
  
"Sure" she smiled and sat down.  
  
They ate dinner together and afterwards stayed on the couch, chatting about multiple subjects. Richard made several jokes to which Caroline laughed joyously. Caroline, in her turn, told all kinds of stories about her family and her high school years and Richard listened intently. The hours flew by and before they knew it, dusk fell over them, setting the whole room in half-dark. It became hard for them to even see each other. Caroline wanted to turn on the lights, but then found some candles and lit those instead. For a moment they sat there quietly, watching the little flames dance in front of them. Since the conversation had been interrupted, they weren't sure what to say anymore and a few awkward moments passed between them. Richard realized that this was the perfect moment for him to say something about his feelings but now he was actually about to say something, he wasn't so confident anymore. Just as he was gathering up the nerve, Caroline took the remote and turned on the TV.  
  
"Oh look Richard!" she exclaimed, nudging him. "'A Man And A Woman' is on! Wanna watch that?"  
  
He reluctantly agreed. He didn't like these sappy films but spending more time with Caroline like this was definitely worth it. Caroline snuggled up to him, laying her head on his shoulder. This surprised Richard for a moment, but of course he didn't fight it. He enjoyed the closeness between them. Caroline was intently watching the movie, but Richard had no clue what the story was about. He had drifted off into a dream-like state of mind, his mind high in the clouds now he got to sit with Caroline like this. After a while Richard put his arm around her shoulder and she moved even closer to him. In that moment Caroline felt happier than ever before. There she was; at her apartment, sitting on the couch with the man she loved, watching a wonderful movie. She closed her eyes dreamily, wishing she could sit like this with Richard forever. She looked up briefly and smiled at him when his hand moved from her shoulders to rest on her hip. She then lay her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes again, seeing nothing but beautiful colors swirling behind her eyes. Richard couldn't believe this was happening. Caroline was closer to him than he'd ever hoped she would be. He closed his eyes to enjoy the moment. This must mean she felt the same way, he thought. Unconsciously, Richard's hand moved from her hip to caress her thigh. Caroline froze under his touch. Suddenly all the lovely colors were gone. A new image sprung into her vision: a dark-haired man with penetrating brown eyes stared at her. All of a sudden Richard's hand didn't feel as safe anymore. She swatted at his hand and jumped away from him as if burnt. Alarmed, he looked up, his eyes widening when he noticed the frightened look in her eyes.  
  
"Caroline? Caroline, what's wrong?" He hung his head. "Dammit, I just ruined everything, didn't I? I'm sorry, I never should've done that." He got up too and approached her. He reached out to her but she stepped back, shaking her head, tears now starting to flow down her cheeks. He then became concerned. Maybe she wasn't interested, but this reaction was totally out of proportion. Something else was wrong, he was certain. "Caroline, you're scaring me. Please tell me what's wrong. Are you hurt?" he asked helplessly.  
  
Again she shook her head, choking out a croaked, "No." She was only half-telling the truth though. Her body had started to burn again when he touched her but the only thing hurting was something deep inside her that ached tremendously. Richard slowly approached her again and put a hand on her shoulder. This time she didn't back away. He gestured for her to sit down on the couch. He sat down beside her, leaving a fair amount of space between the two of them, afraid to come too close and scare her for whatever reason.  
  
"Caroline." he tried again, "Please tell me what's going on."  
  
She shook her head furiously, then rested her elbows on her knees and pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to stop the tears.  
  
"I can't..." she replied in between sobs, "It's too embarrassing."  
  
He started rubbing her back soothingly but she didn't react in any way. But he was glad she didn't move away from him again. "Caroline, you can tell me anything, you know that, don't you?"  
  
She nodded, still not looking up at him.  
  
"Well, what is it then?" he asked carefully, hoping she'd look up so he could gauge the situation by the look in her eyes. But she had them still covered with her hands, her shoulders heaving.  
  
Several minutes passed before she finally began to calm down a little. He heard her taking some deep breaths to control her breathing again, then she finally spoke, her voice coming out soft with a slight tremble. "The pool.," she swallowed, "Earlier, at the pool, there was this guy and he..he um.." Finding it hard to complete the sentence, she swallowed again and wiped away some new tears before finally looking up at him "He touched me". She carefully looked up, wondering if he'd be disgusted with her forever now.  
  
His jaw dropped open and his eyes slowly widened. "Touched you? You mean..?"  
  
She nodded, then started to cry again. She fell into his arms, pressing herself tightly to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. He listened to her loud sobs as his brain worked furiously to comprehend what was going on. First, he was overwhelmed with shock and pain. How could someone do this to her, make her cry like this? He then became angrier and angrier. How dare he do this to Caroline?! When her crying ceased, he whispered; "Caroline? You need to talk about this." She nodded and pulled back to look in his eyes, then looked down at her lap.  
  
"So...a-are you totally disgusted with me now?" she asked softly.  
  
"What?? No! No, of course not! Why would I?"  
  
"Because I am." she said painfully, trying to stop a new flood of tears.  
  
He pulled her back into his arms, vowing he was going to kill the guy who did this to her. "No Caroline, I'm not disgusted with you. And you shouldn't be either. This is not your fault, it's his and nobody else's."  
  
She sat back again, grasping his hands. "But Richard, I didn't do anything. I just stood there, letting him do whatever he wanted. I mean, I wanted to do something but I couldn't." He didn't say anything, but listened intently as she continued, "I don't know why.for some reason I couldn't move, I just let it happen." She briefly closed her eyes with her last few words.  
  
"Caroline," he said softly, "That still doesn't make what he did right. He had no right to touch you and he knew it."  
  
"But why didn't I do something then? Why didn't I kick him, or scream or whatever?" she asked helplessly.  
  
He shook his head. "I don't know. But there's no saying how you react in such a situation, you can impossibly prepare for it, so you can never tell how you're going to react. Besides, you were in shock, you can't blame yourself for what you did or didn't do. You can't expect yourself to react rationally in an irrational situation."  
  
She nodded, then looked up, smiling slightly. "Where do you get all this psychological crap from, anyway?"  
  
"Caroline, I've seen enough therapists in my life to pick up a little here and there. That's why I think you have to talk about this."  
  
"I know, you're right I suppose." she said, a bit calmer now.  
  
"I am, you're not to blame for anything. But we do have to go to the police with this."  
  
At the sound of the word 'police' she jumped up from the couch. "The police?? No way!" She held up her hands defensively and backed away from him.  
  
He got up as well. "Caroline, you have to report this to the police! This guy has to be stopped before he gets a chance to do this again."  
  
She shook her head furiously. "No, no I don't want to go to the police, telling you was humiliating enough. Besides, I just want to forget this ever happened and get on with my life." She walked over to the kitchen and took two glasses out of the cupboard, then took out a bottle of wine.  
  
"You want some wine?" she asked in a completely pointless attempt to change the subject.  
  
He walked over to the counter, wondering how he was going to get through to her. "You don't have to be ashamed of anything, but you do have to deal with this. You need to talk about it, get that creep arrested!"  
  
She set down the bottle of wine. "I don't have to do anything Richard! I just want to forget it ever happened! Besides, since when do you believe in talking? You're always saying how repressing stuff works so well for you! Now, I think you're right and I'd like to give it a try!"  
  
"Caroline, you're in denial. Pretending nothing happened isn't going to solve anything. If you just talked about it..-"  
  
"No! End of discussion Richard!" she shouted.  
  
Then the door opened and Annie walked in, followed by Del and Charlie. "Hey, is everything alright in here?" she asked "I heard the two of you across the hall so I decided to come over to see if everything is okay."  
  
Richard looked up. "No, as a matter of fact, it isn't Annie."  
  
"Yes it is!" Caroline hissed through gritted teeth. "Del, Charlie, what are you doing here?" she asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.  
  
Del walked over to the counter and Charlie skated along. He looked back and forth between Richard and Caroline, seeing the distressed look on both their faces. Even to Del it was obvious something wasn't right. "Oh, uh.these contracts need to be signed, but I can come back some other time.." he said hesitantly. He gave the contracts to Charlie who started to put them away, but Caroline grabbed them from him.  
  
"No, it's fine Charlie, I can sign them now." She took the contracts with her to the partner desk and sat down in Richard's chair to sign them.  
  
"Are you sure?" Charlie asked. "You look like you've been crying"  
  
"You're right, she has." Annie agreed, for the first time noticing Caroline's tear-stained face.  
  
Caroline looked up, to find everyone staring sympathetically at her. It made her incredibly uncomfortable. This pool-guy had put her in a situation she least wanted to be in: out of control and dependent. She wanted to be the independent, self-sufficient woman she had always been. Of course she wasn't entirely that, she leaned on Richard and Annie more than anything, but just the feeling of being independent gave her the strength she needed to feel good about herself. And he had taken it away from her. As this realisation entered her mind, her mood began to change. She wanted to get this creep and make him pay for what he did. She put down her pen. "Okay," she sighed "Del, Charlie, Annie, here's what happened: "  
  
She told them the whole story. They became more appalled with everything Caroline told them.  
  
When she was finished, it was quiet for a moment. Annie and Charlie had sat down on a barstool, Del was leaning on the counter and Richard was still in the same spot he'd been in when Del, Annie and Charlie entered. Annie just stared into space for a moment, her eyes tearing up a little. Charlie was trying to comprehend what he'd just heard, since his brain wasn't used to dealing with stuff this serious. Del was the first one to respond. He slammed his fist down on the counter.  
  
"Dammit, I can't believe this!" he exclaimed angrily. "Caroline, we have to do something!"  
  
Annie didn't say anything, but got up from her seat to hug Caroline. After a few moments, she broke the embrace. "I'm so sorry, hon." she said sympathetically, then became angry. "But Del's right: we need to do something!"  
  
Richard sighed. "I agree with you Annie, but that's what Caroline and I were talking about before; she doesn't want to."  
  
Caroline looked up. "Well Richard, maybe you were right after all. Maybe we should do something, you know, try to find him so I can kick him!" She produced a smile in an attempt to lighten the mood, but the others didn't respond.  
  
"Yeah, um..Care, that's something I'm wondering about." Annie said. "Why didn't you kick him or hit him or whatever? I mean, I would! No man would ever get his hands on me, that is, if I didn't want to of course." she jokingly added.  
  
"Yeah, I'm wondering about that too" Del interjected "Why didn't you just hit him or scream?"  
  
"Yeah," Annie agreed. "I would slap him and.-"  
  
"Look," Caroline interrupted "I said the same thing before this happened. I told myself if something like that ever happened to me, I'd do all those things too but for some reason I couldn't. I don't know how to explain it. My mind just went blank and for some reason I couldn't move." Her voice started to tremble when she thought about the event again and she quickly broke off her sentence to avoid a new flood of tears.  
  
Richard went over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, still afraid to do something wrong again. "Guys, this wasn't Caroline's fault so I don't think there's much point in asking her stuff like this. You can never tell how you're going to react in a certain situation until you end up in one."  
  
Del held up his hands defensively. "Hey, we're not accusing her, we were just wondering about it. But I suppose you're right. So, what are we going to do about this?"  
  
"I say we go down to that pool and find him!" Annie said firmly.  
  
Caroline looked up. "Oh no! I'm not going near that pool again!"  
  
"Well, you don't have to." Annie started.  
  
"How about we hide until we see him and then push him off the high board?" Charlie suggested.  
  
Everyone looked up, surprised to even hear him speak.  
  
"Charlie, that's not punishment." Del scolded.  
  
"It was when they did it to me" Charlie protested.  
  
Annie rolled her eyes and turned back to Caroline and happily noted that she was smiling at Charlie's comment. "Look, I have an idea. How about I act as bait?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Richard asked.  
  
"Well, like I said. I'll act as bait, swim around there, see if the perve tries something and then I'll make sure he never does it again!"  
  
"Annie, you're insane, that's way too dangerous!" Del exclaimed.  
  
Annie turned to face him and planted her hands on her hips. "I'm not afraid of him! Let him try, see what I do!"  
  
"No Annie, I agree with Del. It's a bad idea, you alone in that pool with that creepo. What if you end up a victim too?" Caroline said.  
  
"Moi?!" Annie scoffed. "I don't think so. Okay, so how about this: you guys come with me and hide somewhere in the pool to keep an eye on me?"  
  
Richard shook his head. "I don't know. I still think we should call the police."  
  
"Ah, come on Richie! You know they're not going to do anything unless we have some proof! This way you can all be witnesses."  
  
"I don't want the police involved." Caroline said.  
  
"Well, actually, I think it's a good idea," Del said, walking over to Annie. "If we come along and stay near her to prevent anything from happening, then I think it just might work."  
  
Charlie got up from his barstool and skated over to Del. "I agree" he added.  
  
Del, Annie and Charlie were now standing across from Richard and Caroline, anticipating their response. Richard looked down at Caroline. "Well, I want this creep arrested, but this is about you so, what do you want?"  
  
She smiled and looked back and forth between her friends. "Majority rules I suppose. Let's get him!" she said firmly.  
  
"Alright!" Del and Annie exclaimed and slapped a high five. They then all sat down to discuss their plan of action.  
  
******  
  
Caroline fidgeted nervously with her well-manicured nails, which probably wouldn't last until the end of the day. She was so nervous that she took it out on her nails, ripping little bits off every few minutes. She looked around. The observation area was almost empty apart from a couple behind her and three young girls who were giggling loudly on the first bench. Caroline was sitting on the same bench where Richard had sat the day before. It gave her a perfect view of the whole pool. She glanced over at the changing rooms and couldn't help but smile broadly at what she saw. Del emerged from the changing rooms dressed in a bathing suit, followed by Annie who was also in bathing suit. Then Charlie skated after them, fully clothed. And then Richard.. in bathing suit. She jumped up and approached them.  
  
"Wow, you guys look um..great." she smiled.  
  
"Hey, don't forget that we're doing this for you." Del reminded her, obviously uncomfortable in his outfit.  
  
She glanced down at Charlie's skates. "Um..Charlie, rollerblades at a pool?" she asked  
  
He nodded. "Sure, why not?"  
  
Caroline arched her eyebrows. "Well, I don't think it's allowed."  
  
He shrugged. "Who cares? I'm faster than them anyway!" He turned and skated away from them to demonstrate. He then turned again and skated back, grabbing Caroline's shoulders to come to a stop. "See how well these babies work on tiles? Oh shoot, I should've brought my bathing suit, I'd love to find out how these do on the giant waterslide!"  
  
"Charlie.." Del scolded, "We're not here to have fun."  
  
Caroline shook her head and turned away from him. "It's okay, Del"  
  
She then glanced over at Richard who was half-hiding behind one of the huge palm trees. He was obviously feeling even more awkward in his bathing suit than Del for it was probably the first time he even wore one. "And Richard,..you? In a bathing suit?" she asked, surprised.  
  
"Yeah,.so?" he said uncomfortably, only slightly moving away from the palm tree, his arms folded across his chest.  
  
"Well, I thought you never wore those?" she asked coyly.  
  
He bent his head, a deep blush creeping through his cheeks. Awkwardness couldn't get worse than this. "Well um..this is an exception, you know...for you." It came out so soft a whisper, it was almost inaudible. But Caroline heard him loud and clear. Touched, she stared at him. He looked up and for a moment, it seemed like it was just the two of them there.  
  
"Okay then," Del clapped his hands, pulling them back to reality. "Let's get this over with."  
  
"Yeah, I suggest us three get into this pool over here" Annie said, gesturing to the wave pool behind her. "Charlie can hide around these palm trees and Caroline, you can sit in the observation area."  
  
"But um..won't he recognize me then?" Caroline asked.  
  
"Well, you can just sit in a corner then. I doubt he'll look that closely."  
  
"You're right" Caroline nodded.  
  
"And remember, you always have my cell phone, so if there's anything at all you can just call the police." Del added.  
  
"Okay then." She turned to go over to the observation area, then stopped and looked over shoulder. "Thanks guys."  
  
******  
  
Several hours went by, but their target didn't show up. Caroline was getting bored on the hard wood bench she'd been sitting on and she was beginning to give up hope. How did they know this guy was even going to come back? Del, Richard and Annie must've had the longest work-out ever by now, she thought. Not to mention the cold, they must be freezing. Charlie was the only one she wasn't worried about, he was probably having a ball skating around the pool. She exhaled sharply and rose from the bench to get her friends out of the pool, there was no point, he wasn't coming. She walked over to the pool, but halted abruptly behind a couple of palm trees. She squeezed her eyes together as she gazed at a man at the other side of the pool. It was him. She was certain of it. Del, Annie and Richard were still in the pool in front of her. She carefully tried to warn them, without anyone else noticing her. It took a while before Annie spotted her behind the palm trees, but when she understood what Caroline meant, she gave her a thumbs up, then gestured for her to go back to the observation area. As Caroline went back, she caught Annie swimming over to Del and Richard, telling them their man had arrived.  
  
Richard and Del both moved to the other side of the pool while Annie stayed on one side, pretending to swim. The guy entered the pool and immediately looked over at Annie, one of the few women in the pool. Caroline started to fidget again as she watched him swimming closer and closer to Annie. She looked down at her hands: only two nails were still in tact. When she looked up again, the guy had moved even closer to Annie but Richard and Del were watching him like a hawk.  
  
No matter how tough she was, Annie had to admit she was getting a little scared when she noticed the guy coming closer and closer. For a moment she wished she hadn't had such a big mouth. But she immediately pulled herself together. She did this for Caroline and besides, Richard and Del were watching her, she was safe.  
  
Just when Caroline thought he was going to strike, he moved away from Annie and swam off in a different direction. She sighed with relief. Then Annie came walking over to Caroline. She had goose bumps and she was shivering slightly from the sudden change of temperature.  
  
"Hey Caroline."  
  
"Hey. How are you?" Caroline asked.  
  
"I'm fine. Did you see that? He came really close and then moved away again. I don't think there's much point in staying anymore."  
  
"I guess you're right. Maybe he noticed Richard and Del?"  
  
"How could he? He doesn't know they're with me."  
  
Caroline thought hard for a moment, trying to decide what to do now. "No, that's true. Well, then I think we should just go h-.."  
  
All of a sudden two loud screams echoed through the pool. Alarmed, Caroline and Annie looked up to see Del and Richard diving on top of the dark-haired guy they'd been watching. A young woman with blond curly hair swam away from the scene and hurriedly made her way out of the pool. The other swimmers were startled too. Most of them followed the blond woman out of the water but a few of them couldn't suppress their curiosity and swam closer to watch. A lifeguard came rushing to the pool and started calling to Richard and Del to let go. Richard was furious though and could've easily strangled the guy if two lifeguards hadn't jumped in the pool to drag him and Del away from the guy  
  
"Quick, call the police!" Annie exclaimed. Caroline grabbed the cell phone and they rushed over to the pool.  
  
Once out of the pool, it took two lifeguards to hold down the guy that had assaulted Caroline while Del and a third lifeguard were talking to Richard, trying to get him to calm down. Caroline and Annie were still standing at the side of the pool, completely stunned. Annie looked over at Caroline. "Well, that went a little different than expected, but at least they've got him now. Do you want to go over and kick him? Or say something to him?" she looked over at the lifeguards who still had the guy locked in their grip. When there was no answer, she glanced over at Caroline again to find her crying softly. She placed an arm on her friend's shoulders. "Hey, I'm sorry hon. It's okay, they've got him now."  
  
Caroline nodded. "I know. I'm just so glad it's over. But I don't want to go over there, I want to stay as far away from him as possible."  
  
"Sure, you don't ever have to see him again. But the police might need a statement from you, they should be here any minute."  
  
She nodded again. "That's fine, I will."  
  
"Good." Annie smiled. "Now, I'm gonna try to find that poor woman who just ran off. The police will need to talk to her too. You wanna come?"  
  
"No" Caroline said softly, still wiping at her tears.  
  
"Okay." Annie briefly placed a hand on her shoulder, then walked off to find the other woman.  
  
Caroline just stood there, watching the lifeguards who were still struggling to hold down her enemy: the guy who had taken away her sense of safety and her feeling of self-esteem. Her hands balled into fists as her vision got blurred with more tears, turning the three men across the pool into nothing more than a faded watercolor painting. She didn't notice the small crowd that had formed around her and also around the three men.  
  
The radio was still playing songs as if nothing had happened. A new song started and it caught her attention. It was Anastacia's 'Paid my dues'. Her ears perked up at the lyrics for they seemed perfectly applicable to her situation.  
  
You can say what you want about me  
  
try to do what you want to me  
  
but you can not stop me  
  
She didn't know what it was, but for some reason the song made a deep impression on her. It gave her strength and the will to fight. As the song continued, it made her will power grow even stronger.  
  
I'm too proud, too strong  
  
I live by the code that you gotta move on  
  
feeling sorry for yourself ain't got nobody nowhere  
  
The self-pity she'd felt since all of this started had never felt comfortable, but until this moment, she'd felt like she had no choice. It had felt as though this was predestined and that all she could do was accept it. The song changed her mind, it proved the contrary.  
  
So I held my head high  
  
knew I'd survive  
  
I made it  
  
that's just the way it goes  
  
Tried to hold me down, you can't stop me now  
  
I paid my dues  
  
She wasn't going to let him ruin her dignity. He wasn't worth it. She could get through it, she had great friends to help her with this. One look across the pool told her how lucky she was: Del and Richard both in swimming gear to help her. Richard still hadn't calmed down completely but Del and the lifeguard had managed to sit him down now.  
  
Took so long to get me here and I won't live in fear  
  
of you tryin' to steal my shine  
  
First they wanna build you up, then they tear you down  
  
and it's a struggle, tryin' to bubble,  
  
The song faded away and she felt better, determined to take action against her feelings and she knew she wouldn't have to do this alone. She had her friends; Annie, Del and Charlie and.. Richard. Just when she was thinking about how special it was what Richard did for her, Annie came walking back. Caroline smiled over to her best friend who had selflessly put herself at risk to help her.  
  
"Hey Caroline, I found her." Annie exclaimed, walking towards her with the blond-haired woman.  
  
"This is Allison." Annie said when they reached Caroline.  
  
"You okay?" Caroline asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. He didn't touch me, all this just startled me. I'm so thankful your friends were here to help me." Allison said.  
  
"I know, they're great." Caroline agreed, giving Annie a meaningful look.  
  
Annie smiled in return. "Hey, anything for you sweetie!" She then hugged Caroline. She glanced to the other side of the pool to note that the police had arrived to take the guy away.  
  
"I think Allison and I will go over there so Allison can tell them what's happened."  
  
"Sure" Caroline nodded.  
  
Annie placed a hand on Allison's shoulder and they walked over to the other side of the pool to the police. As Annie and Allison walked off, she noticed Richard and Del approaching her, both holding a big white towel.  
  
"Hey, are you alright?" Richard asked.  
  
Caroline chuckled slightly. "You're asking me? You're the one who nearly killed a man just now!"  
  
"I didn't nearly kill him.." Richard objected softly.  
  
"Yeah you did!" Del interjected. He then turned to Caroline. "Look, this guy must care an awful lot for you, he almost strangled that guy."  
  
"Don't exaggerate, Del" Richard said uncomfortably.  
  
"Well, anyway we got him. Good team-work, huh?" he said, patting Richard on the back so hard it caused him to stumble forward slightly.  
  
"Thank you so much Del" Caroline smiled, then turned to Richard "And thank you Richard, you have no idea how much this means to me". They locked into a stare again.  
  
Del cleared his throat. "Um..well, I'll go and change then, huh?" he walked off to the changing rooms, leaving Richard and Caroline alone.  
  
"Thank you" she repeated softly. She hugged him briefly then quickly stepped away again, feeling torn between her love for him and the fear that was still somewhere in her heart and had yet to be overcome.  
  
Then Annie returned from the other side of the pool. "Come on," she said, "Let's see if we can catch Charlie and get the hell out of here!" Richard and Caroline smiled to each other, then followed Annie as she walked off.  
  
Epilogue  
  
"Caroline? Caroline! Are you coming?" Richard called from downstairs.  
  
"Yeah, I'm ready", Caroline replied, struggling to put on a sweater while she bounded down the stairs.  
  
"Have you got everything?" he asked.  
  
She held up her red duffel bag. "Yeap, all ready to go!"  
  
"Good." Richard reached for his coat and opened the door but she stopped him, teasingly smiling up at him. "You know, I still can't believe you're actually coming with me now." she said, circling her arms around his waist.  
  
"As if I'm going to let you go swimming on your own anymore, no way. I want to keep an eye on you."  
  
"That's sweet of you, but I'm not afraid anymore." She paused, "Thanks to you" she then added.  
  
"Me?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"Yeah, for being patient with me and help me get through this. I know it wasn't easy for you either." she said softly.  
  
He shrugged. "Hey, you did this all on your own" he corrected her. "I didn't do anything."  
  
"Well, I disagree. Your support meant everything to me. Either way, I'm glad everything is back to normal again." She thought about her words for a moment, then continued, "Okay, well not completely normal, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do this." She grinned, wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a soft kiss on the tip of his nose.  
  
"True," he agreed, "And I wouldn't have been able to do this." he smiled and bent down to kiss her.  
  
"So...are we going swimming now or not?" she muttered against his lips.  
  
He pulled away briefly. "That swimming outfit didn't suit me anyway." he said teasingly and pushed the door shut again.  
  
The end. 


End file.
